A struggling painter is possessed by satanic forces after he and his young family move into their dream home in rural Texas, in this creepy haunted-house tale from Australian writer-director Sean Byrne (The Loved Ones).

The Devil's Candy

Sean Byrne

Year

2015

Runtime

90 min

Language

English

Country

United States

Principal Cast

Ethan Embry, Shiri Appleby, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Kiara Glasco

Metal music, wet paint, and family are the
passions of Jesse (Ethan Embry), a struggling
painter who lives a happy life with
his wife, Astrid (Shiri Appleby), and their
preteen daughter, Zooey (Kiara Glasco).
And things look even brighter when Jesse
and Astrid are able to put in a bid on their
dream home — a huge property in rural
Texas with a barn big enough for a proper
art studio — after the price is driven down
due to the home's mysterious past.

After the trio moves in, Jesse's work
starts taking on a new, considerably darker
flavour — and things get even more ominous
when Ray (Pruitt Taylor Vince), the hulking,
clearly unbalanced son of the deceased
former owners, appears on the doorstep one
night, clutching a red electric guitar and asking
to "return home." It soon becomes clear
that Ray and Jesse are both being influenced
by the same satanic forces, and that Jesse's
family won't be safe until they find a way to
quiet the Devil himself.

Australian writer-director Sean Byrne
burst onto the horror scene with the
delightfully demented torture-garden
thriller The Loved Ones, which won the
Midnight Madness People's Choice Award
in 2009. Now, in his first American film,
he offers an equally distinctive take on the
haunted-house tale, avoiding the clichés of
the genre and creating an atmosphere as
creepily oppressive as Jesse's haunting and
disturbing canvases. As the supernatural
threat draws ever closer to its victims, Byrne
demonstrates once again that he knows how
to inflict excruciating torment — both physical
and psychological — on his unfortunate
characters, and supremely nasty thrills on
his audiences.